Chapter 2
I sat in front of the computer screen.
The room was dark except for the glow of the monitor.
Ilaria slept in the next room.
I needed to know.
I scrolled back to the date Elena vanished.
Eight months ago.
The kitchen camera showed everything.
Elena was making coffee.
She looked tired but happy.
She was talking to Ilaria, who sat in her high chair coloring.
Then the front door opened.
Celeste walked in.
Elena smiled and greeted her.
They were friends back then.
Best friends.
I felt sick.
Celeste set her bag down.
She said something I couldn't hear.
Elena's smile faded.
She asked a question.
Celeste stepped closer.
Then it happened.
Celeste pulled something from her bag.
A small bottle.
She sprayed it in Elena's face.
Elena's eyes widened.
She clutched her throat.
She stumbled backward.
Ilaria started crying.
Elena fell to her knees.
Then she collapsed.
Celeste stood over her.
Watching.
She didn't call for help.
She didn't check if Elena was breathing.
She just watched.
Then she pulled out her phone.
She made a call.
Two men arrived twenty minutes later.
They carried Elena out.
Celeste cleaned the kitchen.
She wiped every surface.
She picked up Ilaria and held her.
She whispered something in the little girl's ear.
Ilaria stopped crying.
She looked terrified.
Then Celeste sat down at the table.
She waited.
For me.
When I came home, she acted worried.
Said Elena had stepped out and hadn't come back.
She helped me call the police.
She cried with me.
All while knowing exactly where my wife was.
I stared at the screen.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
I felt like I couldn't breathe.
The woman I was going to marry.
The woman I trusted with my daughter.
Had destroyed my family.
I kept watching.
More footage.
Weeks of it.
When I was at work, Celeste came to the house.
She tormented Ilaria.
Not always with water.
Sometimes she took away her toys.
Sometimes she whispered terrible things.
"Your mommy left because of you."
"If you tell Daddy, I'll make sure she never comes back."
"You're a bad girl. That's why nobody loves you."
Ilaria would cry.
But she never told me.
Because she was scared.
Because Celeste had threatened her mother's safety.
I felt rage boil inside me.
Hot and violent.
I wanted to find Celeste and—
No.
I had to be strong.
For Ilaria.
I needed to do this the right way.
I saved all the footage to a USB drive.
I made copies.
I emailed them to myself.
May you like
Then I picked up my phone.
I called the police.
